PSP - It's a beautiful thing (2 Viewers)

[Mike_G]

Mac only. I could write a Windows version, but the Mac version alone takes up all my time. I don't have the time to make a Windows version, and I'm not dealing with wxWidgets.

Mike

 

[Dave Scarpa]

My Macs at home so I'll give it a go when I get home tonight Thanks Mike ! BTW do you have you PSP already and if not are you first shipment?

 

[Mike_G]

I have one from Japan already, and I have a US one paid in full - just waiting for Thursday .

Mike

 

[Dave Scarpa]

Well you'll have to add me to your buddy list so we can play

 

[RichardK]

I am going to try and get one on the 24th from the local WalMart...I'm going to have to hide the cost from the Wife because I just bought an XBOX and a GBA. I'm really excited about this one because of the wireless gaming. I played with one of these at a small tradeshow recently and it is SLICK!
If I get one, I will add any and all of you to my buddy list.
I will likely get Wipeout and TW Golf when available.

 

[Dave Scarpa]

I was trading in some games today and they gotin Gretsky Hockey, You all should see the size of these UMD disks really amazing. I also Paid in full for Ridge Racer and MLB2006 so I'll be onlne with thoe at least. I don't know when I'll get the actual system thou I hope by the second shipment.

 

[Steve Felix]

Spider-Man 2 is 2.35:1, and according to IGN the UMD that comes with the value pack is cropped to 16:9. (Edit: Or maybe it's open matte, but still.)

I'm not interested in the movie anyway, but I wish I didn't have to buy the value pack! (But... I do have to buy the value pack, because the PSP is the most beautiful electronic device I have ever seen.)

 

[Dave Scarpa]

I'm not surprised. I'm gonna get killed or this but I don't mind the cropping for a movie for a machine with a 4.3 inch screen. I've started doing some conversions using the Rapiz program and I do my widescreen encodes with the widescreen option checked. That will eliminate the letterboxing and fil the screen, since I willnever watch these on anything other than the PSP it makes sense.


Ok Kill me now (Hangs Head in shame)

 

[PerryD]

I think Pan&Scan is unacceptable even on the PSP, although to me open-matte would be an reasonable alternative. On a widescreen display, 2.35 is only slightly letterboxed and I believe would look stylish on the PSP.

But also consider that if Sony displayed Spider-Man 2 with full 2.35 widescreen, they could have been able to show the movie with 25% less compression, or perhaps even better could have created room to store the Sam Raimi/Tobey Maguire commentary track and 30 minutes worth of making of featurettes from the DVD.

 

[Ken Chui]

For those that missed the first shipment pre-order deadline, Best Buy will be opening at 8:01am on March 24 (unfortunately, I can't post any details until this Sunday)

 

[RichardK]

Ken

BB, all stores at 8:01am or just in Ohio?

Any Walmart workers know when the PSPs will ready for sale? My local is a 24hr shop..can i go at midnight and snatch one up or what??? Also, anyone know if Sam's is gonna have these on 3/24?

 

[Steve Felix]

I don't want to turn this of all threads into an aspect ratio debate, but let me just say that Bill Pope joked that he agreed to shoot SM 2 on the condition that it be shot "in a widescreen format" (making fun of the 1.85 ratio of SM 1). So, I imagine he'd think it was pretty important to see his 2.35:1 framing. (Source: American Cinematographer magazine)

Think of the compositions, man!!

Plus, if my calculations are correct, 4.3" diagonal viewed from 18 inches is equivalent to nearly a 30" widescreen set viewed from 10 feet. So, the perceived screen size will be plenty.

 

[Sean Moon]

Well, just got me a 1gb stick off of ebay, since that seems to be the only place to get them nowadays. Lets hope it arrives in time for the system launch in less than a week.

 

[Ken Chui]

My info came from a secondary source, i.e. a non-Ohio resident who gets his flyers during mid-week. It's a safe bet that the central Ohio locations will be opening at 8:01 next Thursday, though the earlier opening may be at the discretion of a given store manager, i.e. YMMV. You may want to check with your nearest BB on or after Sunday to confirm the store hours for the 24th.

While I can't post specifics for next week's flyers (at least till Sunday), what I can say is that Best Buy, CompUSA, Target and Toys R Us will be selling the Value Pack as a standalone item (i.e. no compulsory bundle purchase); only Circuit City is advetising a PSP bundle (that I know of).

 

[David Galindo]

Hey Ken, can you tell me if any stores are giving anything away with the purchase of a PSP? Thanks!!!

 

[DeanC]

Well Future Shop here in BC Canada Vancouver and Burnaby is having a midnight madness sale on Tuesday for the PSP release.

They are the best deal I think with Spiderman 2 movie, Twisted Metal, and Gretzky Hockey along with a carrying case, memory stick and battery and all. For $349 Canadian thats good.

Also they are selling just the system with case, battery, and memory stick itself with no movie or games for $310.

I guess in American why its selling at $249 wow thats almost 100 dollars cheaper. What bundle or stuff do you get.

 

[RudyN]

The Target I work at has received about 80 of these so far. Looks like they will be handing out #'s before the store opens. They are also limiting 1 per person. It looks nice, don't know if I'll be buying one on Thursday, but will probably pick one up in the future.

 

[Ken Chui]

US residents will receive the same contents in the Canadian Value Pack sans Gretzky NHL (from what I've read, Canadians may be compelled to purchase the Value Pack w/ Gretzky NHL bundle from retailers such as EB Games and Compucentre, though places such as Wal-Mart and Zellers may sell the Value Pack by itself. I'll need to confirm the latter). The MSRP of the Value Pack for Canadians should be CDN$299 (no Gretzky NHL game included); not sure why Future Shop is asking a $10 premium.

CDN$349 for the Value Pack and two games is pretty good; too bad the GST & PST tacks on quite a bit to the total.

 

[Ken Chui]

David:

AFAIK, Best Buy is the only retailer offering anything with the Value Pack purchase: a PSP GamePro Guide (includes a $5 coupon good towards any PSP game). Disappointing, no?

Here are the ad specifics that I know of:

Best Buy
PSP Face Armor & Disc Jackets - $9.99
PSP Starter Kit - $49.99
Sony 128MB Memory Stick Duo - $49.99
System Value Pack - $249.99

Free $10 Gift Card with purchase of any 2 PSP games
Free $20 Gift Card with purchase of any 3 PSP games
Free PSP GamePro Guide (includes a $5 coupon good towards any PSP game)

Circuit City
SanDisk 256MB Memory Stick Duo - $34.99 (after $10 MIR)
System Bundle (Value Pack & Twisted Metal) - $289.99

CompUSA
System Value Pack - $249.99
10% off all PSP games

Target
SanDisk 256MB Memory Stick Duo - $44.99
System Value Pack - $249.99

Toys R Us
System Value Pack - $249.99

Not sure about places such as Fry's, as there are none in the Midwest.


Notes:
TRU allotment is based on sales volume for any given location and each is assigned a letter to reflect this. I've read that an 'A' store has received as many as 150 Value Packs, whereas a 'D' store may end up with as little as 30.

 

[CaptDS9E]

If you spend $299 at BB this week you get a free Reward Zone Card . From he points of buying a PSP and a $50 game you will get $10 in reward certs back, plus you can use the $5 off gamepro coupon

capt